The Lanark Highlands Forest Rally was highly anticipated for the Juggernaut team after the 5-month break in between events. With its tight and twisty stages, Lanark is a rally well liked by both drivers.

The day started off well for both teams with steady paces from both drivers. The day was fairly uneventful with both Juggernaut cars making it on the 2WD podium 1st and 3rd positions, the first time both cars made it on the podium together since both cars started competing.

“It was a great day overall, I felt good with my pace, the notes were good and I kept improving and getting more and more comfortable as the day progressed. I had one small moment when I hit a rock on the front passenger side, which dented the rim, but it didn’t puncture the tire luckily. It was a great feeling to finish this race and make it on the podium, as I hadn’t finished this race in the two previous years I competed.” G. Sutherland

“Lanark is a challenging event and I struggled mentally and physically preparing myself for it last year. It is a road that pays dividends when driven committed and with great focus. This year we managed to get a decent handle on it and I was able to overcome my preparation woes” A. Kulikowski

The team’s next event will be the Black Bear Rally in July 2014.

We would like to thank our sponsors as well: NV Auto, HID Canada, O’Brien Motorsports and Vita Graphica.

The two-car Juggernaut Motorsports team was back in force at the 2013 Rally of the Tall Pines. Cold temperatures and varying stage conditions made the rally quite interesting.

Kulikowski / Nichols started off the rally with a very competitive pace having the two fastest times in 2WD on the first two stages. They spent the whole day battling for a spot on the 2WD podium but an unfortunate sheared ball joint ended their rally early on stage 10.

“We tried a few new things with the setup of the car; some worked, some didn’t. I was happy with our pace but being a little overzealous cost us quite some time with five small offs, including one at high speed.” A. Kulikowski

Sutherland / Gospodinov had a more conservative start to the rally. The conditions proved to be difficult to find a competitive pace for the team. They ended up finishing the rally 4th O2WD and 8th overall in regional

“It was my first time ever racing on snow and ice so I took a very conservative approach to the rally. I wasn’t too happy with the pace I had throughout the race after improving on gravel at other rallies throughout the season but I was having a hard time getting used to the conditions. I had never finished the rally of the tall pines driving or co-driving so it was nice to make it to the end of the rally.” G. Sutherland.

The team’s next event will be the Lanark Highlands Forest Rally in May 2014.

We would like to thank our sponsors as well: NV Auto, HID Canada, O’Brien Motorsports and Vita Graphica.

The Juggernaut Motorsports team was in full force at the 2013 Black Bear Forest Rally this year. After both cars finished 1st and 2nd in class last year, both drivers were looking for similar results.

Sutherland/Gospodinov started the rally off with a moderate pace, trying to get a feel for the rough terrain. “I started off the rally fairly cautious trying to get a handle on the rougher roads. With my last event being the Lanark Highlands Forest Rally and not getting very far at the Rally of the Tall Pines it had been a while since I had raced on these kinds of roads.” G.Sutherland

At the end of the day Sutherland/Gospodinov survived the rally and ended up first 2WD. “It was a very tough rally but we made it to the end. Many of the other competitors started dropping out for one issue or another so near the end of the day my strategy was to bring the car back in one piece and finish. ” G.Sutherland

Andrew brought a new co-driver on board for the Black Bear rally this year. A very experienced co-driver named Kelly Mathew from the 2 Brits Racing rally team.

Kulikowski/Mathew started the day off with a very competitive pace. “Having the experience and tact of Kelly Mathew in the co-driver seat allowed me to get much closer to my potential in the car. Although we had a catastrophic suspension failure on stage 3, we were again increasing our pace at the time and it’s exciting to know how much room we have to improve!”

At the end of the day Kulikowski/Mathew had to retire on the 3rd stage due to the front passenger side suspension shearing. Before the failure they were running very impressive stage times running in the top 10.

Both teams will be back for the Rally of the Tall Pines on November 29th - 30th

We would like to thank our sponsors: NV Auto, HID Canada and O’Brien Motorsports

The Juggernaut Motorsports team returned to Lanark County for the 2013 Lanark Highlands Forest Rally. After both cars DNF’d at last year’s event both drivers were hoping that history wouldn’t repeat itself.

Sutherland/Gospodinov started the rally off with a much improved pace from the previous year. “I felt really good at the start of the rally; despite some troubles we had with notes I was really happy with our pace. On the first stage we beat our time last year by just over a minute which I was quite pleased about.” G.Sutherland

Unfortunately on stage 4, Sutherland/Gospodinov hit a rock which dented their rim so badly that it managed to cut the front passenger side brake line which caused them to DNF. “It was very surprising when I went to push the brakes and my foot went right to the floor; luckily we were able to pull over in a safe area.” G.Sutherland

With a bit of a slow start at the beginning of the day, Kulikowski/Vincent ended up setting some very competitive stage times. ”Despite some issues early in the day with both pace and the car, Derek helped me regain my focus for a great final result” A.Kulikowski

At the end of the day Kulikowski/Vincent ended up 2nd place (open 2wd) and 3rd place novice. Both teams had a good weekend over all and will both be appearing at the Black Bear Forest Rally on July 13th.

We would like to thank our sponsors as well: NV Auto, HID Canada and O’Brien Motorsports